Joined: Kurt Hillary as American Seating’s new vice president of operations. Hillary is responsible for all manufacturing, manufacturing engineering, supply chain and quality functions. He comes to American Seating from X-Rite where he was director of operations. He additionally held positions in operations and…

GRANDRAPIDS – For West Michigan, manufacturing is a crucial part of the local economy. The role manufacturing will play in putting the economic recession in the nation’s rearview, said Vice President Joe Biden, rests in the ability of companies to bring jobs back to the U.S.

About 120 employees at American Seating Co. logged at least two hours each over two happily chaotic days to prepare for Vice President Joe Biden’s visit to the manufacturer’s west side Grand Rapids plant last week.

Vice President Joe Biden spoke in Grand Rapids on Wednesday of the resurgence of American manufacturing.

On Wednesday morning, January 31, Vice President Joe Biden visited Grand Rapids for the second time in less than six months. He gave a roughly 45-minute talk at the American Seating Company on the city’s northwest side. Biden praised the manufacturing company, which he said, “did not budge on outsourcing.”